Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The kerosene that Song Yingxing saw in Yan'an had already been sent to the capital.

The Wensiyuan and the Imperial Household Department also produced kerosene lighters according to the emperor's requirements.

Looking at the various lighters presented by Lu Xiang and Song Jin, Zhu Youjian tried them one by one.

As the Imperial Household Supervisor was a close friend, he naturally used theirs first. Moreover, the lighters made by the Imperial Household Supervisor were made entirely according to his instructions, using fire steel to make gears and rubbing flint to make fire.

Zhu Youjian saw that this lighter was very similar to the one he used later, so he immediately turned the gears and successfully produced sparks.

The spark landed on the cotton core and instantly ignited it. A small flame emerged from the windbreak of the lighter.

This made him extremely satisfied, and he praised Song Jin:
"Not bad, well done!"

"You can apply for a patent for this lighter, and you and the craftsman who made it can share the royalties."

Song Jin said hurriedly:

"It was all His Majesty's suggestion. How dare I take credit for it?"

"Even if we have to pay royalties, it should be given to the emperor."

Zhu Youjian laughed when he heard this:

"I only proposed the idea, but you completed it."

"You will get what you deserve. I will only share one third of the design fee."

"We can authorize the Neifujian workshop to manufacture this lighter, so that they don't have to pay less in patent fees."

When Song Jin heard that the emperor would take one third of the royalties, and the rest would be shared between him and the craftsmen, he was so delighted that he didn't know what to say. He knew that with the emperor's order, the Imperial Household Supervisor would definitely not dare to pay less in royalties.

These were all legitimate incomes that could be reported to the governor, so he thanked the emperor happily and was delighted with the emperor's reward.

Then there was Lu Xiang, who had more craftsmen and stronger technical force in Wensi Academy, and they also made the lighters he requested. And there was more than one, with multiple ways to light a fire.

One of them is almost identical to the one made by the Imperial Supervisor, and both are made based on the design drawings provided by Zhu Youjian.

It's just that the shell is different and more exquisite.

Zhu Youjian fiddled with it a few times and found that the success rate of ignition was lower than that of the lighter in the Imperial Household Department. This made him wonder:
"Why is the success rate of the lighters you make so low?"

Lu Xiang's forehead was sweating a little, and he said:
"I don't know why, maybe the fire steel and flint used are not good enough."

"This lighter has a low success rate, so I followed your Majesty's suggestion and made several lighters using spring wheel lighters and flintlock lighters."

In order to show his sincerity, Song Jin also hurriedly said:
"I and the craftsmen of the Imperial Household Department have wasted countless amounts of fire steel and tried countless flints in order to make this lighter."

"The one presented to His Majesty now is the one that is easiest to start a fire."

"The success rates of the other lighters are similar to that of Dean Lu."

This made Zhu Youjian frown and realize that there were still difficulties in mass-producing gear lighters.

If everyone were as picky as Song Jin, there would be very few good products.

So he put down the gear lighter made by Lu Xiang and picked up the spring wheel lighter. Lu Xiang pointed out:
"Your Majesty said that we can connect the upper cover of the shell with a hinge, and then open the shell to wind the spring. I haven't done that yet, so I need to turn the spring from the outside."

"Once you open the top cover of the casing, you can pull the trigger to release the spring wheel for ignition."

Under his instruction, Zhu Youjian turned the steel wheel on the lighter casing to wind up the spring wheel.

Then he opened the lighter cover, and the spring wheel was immediately released, rubbing violently against the flint fixed on the edge of the windbreak wall.

This series of sparks immediately ignited the cotton core, and the success rate of ignition was almost 100%.

This made Zhu Youjian very happy, and he said:
"Yes, the success rate of ignition is very high, and it is more practical!"

"It's just that it's a bit troublesome to wind it up. It would be better if I could just light it directly in the future."

This led him to pick up the last type of lighter, the one made with a flintlock.

Its appearance is rather strange, more like a flintlock pistol. You can pull the trigger to drive the flintlock to ignite.

Zhu Youjian tried it and found that the success rate of ignition was also good, but it was not as good as the nearly 100% success rate of the spring wheel lighter.

This was also the biggest problem encountered when manufacturing the Ming Dynasty's flintlock muskets.

The success rate of ignition was too low, making the flintlock gun impractical.

Therefore, the main weapon used by the army was the matchlock gun.

Facing this strange-looking lighter, Zhu Youjian asked:
"How much does it cost, and how does it compare to spring-loaded lighters?"

Lu Xiang thought for a while and said uncertainly:

“The cost difference is probably two or three times!”

"The spring-lock lighter is more complicated, the flintlock lighter is simple."

"I just thought the spring-wheel lighter was too expensive, so I made the flintlock lighter."

Then he explained the difference in detail and said:
"The flint of the spring wheel lighter is made of pyrite. The steel wheel rubs the iron ore to produce sparks, and what is scraped off is pyrite powder, while what is lost is the relatively soft pyrite."

"The flint of the flintlock is made of hard flint, which rubs against fire steel to produce sparks. What is scraped off is steel powder, and what is consumed is fire steel."

"The same is true for flint and gear lighters. The fire steel is easily worn out, and the gears of the gear lighter also need to be replaced frequently."

"It costs more than a spring-wheel lighter!"

This made Zhu Youjian look at Song Jin a few times and realized that he had concealed these things.

It is estimated that Lu Xiang discovered these things, so he invented the spring wheel lighter and the flintlock lighter.

Thinking that the kerosene lighters of later generations consumed the flint, Zhu Youjian said:
"In that case, can we use pyrite as flint for the gear lighter?"

"Gears are difficult to manufacture, but flints are easier to replace."

Lu Xiang shook his head and said:
"I have tried this as well, but the success rate is even lower. It is very difficult to start a fire."

"You can only use high-quality fire steel to make gears, and rub them against flint to create fire."

"This lighter is really difficult to make, so I made other lighters according to your Majesty's suggestions."

Zhu Youjian was very happy with his honesty, but he also felt that it was not easy to make a lighter like the ones in later generations. The flint alone was very difficult to solve.

So he gave up the idea of ​​promoting the gear lighter and praised Lu Xiang:
"Lu Qing was able to draw inferences from one example and create a practical lighter."

"It seems that the credit this time will fall on you."

"Decree that Lu Xiang has made great contributions in manufacturing lighters, and his achievements for the year will be recorded."

"When you have enough years of service, you can be promoted to a higher rank with less inspections."

Lu Xiang was given one year's merit as a reward for future promotion.

Although he did not receive a direct upgrade like before, Lu Xiang was not dissatisfied. In his opinion, a lighter was just a small gadget. The emperor gave such detailed instructions that anyone could make it.

He was even happier that the emperor treated him as an official, recording his achievements for one year and reducing his probationary period by one year. This way, when he was promoted in the future, no one would be able to point fingers at him.

Song Jin was a little disappointed with the result. After all, he had spent a lot of effort on this gear lighter.

He made this lighter exactly according to the emperor's design, but he didn't expect the emperor was still not satisfied.

But he didn't know that Zhu Youjian made the lighter not for his own use, but to make it easier to ignite and facilitate outdoor exploration. This would reduce the difficulty of frontier development.

Therefore, he naturally did not adopt the gear lighter, which was difficult to manufacture and had a low yield rate. He valued the spring wheel lighter with a high ignition success rate and the low-cost flintlock lighter more.

Holding the spring-wheel lighter, Zhu Youjian said:
"This type of spring wheel lighter, Wensi Academy can set up a workshop to make some, and the patent fee will be determined the same as for gear lighters."

"I will have the palace purchase them and give them to meritorious soldiers."

"In the future, the palace's ignition tools will gradually be replaced by spring-wheel lighters."

I decided to take the lead and promote this luxury item.

At the same time, cheaper flintlock lighters were promoted among the people:
"Flintlock lighters can be sold to the public."

"At the same time, we are collecting fire steel and flint from the public, which have a higher success rate in striking fire."

"The formulas and combinations of these fire steels and flints can all be patented, and we can charge patent fees."

"We should encourage more folk craftsmen to try and let them help solve the problem of the success rate of flintlocks."

"In addition, I will offer a reward to anyone who can create a flintlock that has a higher success rate in ignition and can be used in muskets. I will grant him the title of centurion and hereditary knighthood."

This was the solution he came up with, to promote the improvement of flintlock lighters by promoting them.

If fire steel and flint with a higher success rate in ignition could be found, there would be no technical problems for the Ming Dynasty to equip itself with flintlock rifles.

When Lu Xiang heard about the reward, he knew that the emperor attached great importance to this matter, and he hesitated for a moment before saying:
"I have a way to increase the success rate of ignition."

“It’s just more troublesome and requires frequent cleaning.”

Zhu Youjian became interested and asked:
"any solution?"

"Tell me about it in detail!"

Lu Xiangdao:
"It's the tinder that's often used when starting a fire with a flint."

"If you put it in the medicine pool, the success rate of ignition will be higher."

"The slightest spark will ignite the tinder."

"This way, the flintlock musket will have a higher success rate when firing."

"When using a flintlock lighter, you can use tinder to assist in ignition."

"It means that after burning, there will be residue, which needs to be cleaned up frequently."

This was a method he had come up with after seeing the flint last time. It was also something the emperor had mentioned before, using tinder to help combustion increase the success rate of ignition.

Inspired by this, he tried it on some flintlock muskets and slightly increased the firing success rate of the flintlock muskets.

It just requires frequent cleaning of the medicine pool, which makes it troublesome to use.

Zhu Youjian listened to his explanation and tried it with a flintlock lighter. He found that it was easier to ignite the tinder after throwing it into the medicine pool. Compared with a small cotton core, the tinder that filled the medicine pool was easier to ignite.

Even though tinder will leave ashes after burning, it is indeed difficult to clean up.

This made him frown and ask:
"What is tinder made of?"

“Is there less tinder left?”

Before Lu Xiang could answer, Song Jin rushed to say:

"Tinder is made from the lint on the back of fireweed."

"It can also be made from mugwort or paper, mixed with saltpeter."

Zhu Youjian was surprised and thought of something:
"Salt water plus mugwort or paper can be made into tinder."

"If it's nitric acid plus cotton, isn't that guncotton?"

"This is smokeless gunpowder, it burns without leaving any residue!"

Guncotton is also known as nitrocellulose. After being stabilized, it becomes smokeless gunpowder.

Zhu Youjian never expected that tinder used to start a fire was actually related to it. Tinder made from moxa or paper and saltpeter can almost be said to be a weakened version of guncotton.

This made him very excited, and he ordered:
"Dry distillation of saltpeter to produce nitric acid which is stronger than saltpeter water."

"Use nitric acid and fine cotton to create guncotton that leaves no residue after burning."

"Use this guncotton to ignite the fire and see if it can increase the success rate of the flintlock musket's ignition!"

It is believed that using guncotton instead of tinder is a feasible solution.

At least after the guncotton burns, no residue is left.

Then he thought of a new way to ignite the fire from this point, which was to ignite the guncotton directly without using sparks:

"Fulminate of mercury is also called mercuric fulminate. It is the reaction of mercury nitrate and something. It can ignite with a slight collision."

"Although I don't know how it is made, I can make mercuric nitrate first and then use it to experiment with various things."

"If we can make it, we can make a percussion cap gun, which doesn't require a flintlock to ignite the fire."

"This is really... really unexpected!"

From tinder he thought of guncotton, and from nitrocellulose he thought of mercuric nitrate. Only now did Zhu Youjian realize that the percussion cap gun was actually very simple.

As long as there is nitric acid and mercury, mercury nitrate can be made. Then fulminate of mercury can be made from mercury nitrate, and fulminate of mercury can be used to make a percussion cap that can fire.

This ignition method has a much higher success rate than the flintlock. It can completely skip the flintlock era and directly use the percussion cap gun.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian immediately ordered Lu Xiang to explore nitric acid, and then use nitric acid to react with cotton, mercury, grease and other items to produce nitrocellulose, mercuric nitrate, nitroglycerin and other nitrates.

Because these were explosives and their properties were very unstable, Zhu Youjian asked Lu Xiang to send people outside the city to test them and ensure safety precautions and confidentiality.

The successful development of either nitrocellulose or mercuric nitrate would bring about significant changes in the way Ming Dynasty firearms were fired. The success of nitroglycerin would allow Ming Dynasty to have an additional powerful explosive.

Zhu Youjian even planned to have people explore smokeless gunpowder after the successful development of nitrocellulose. If smokeless gunpowder was successfully developed, the power of Ming Dynasty's firearms would have a qualitative leap.

This made him realize how important nitric acid is. Why are sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, caustic soda, and soda ash, three acids and two alkalis, called the foundation of chemical industry?

Therefore, he also assigned the research and development of the three acids and two bases to Wensi Academy. He informed Lü Xiang of some of his knowledge and ordered the establishment of a chemical research institute in Wensi Academy to study them.

The research and development of nitrates was placed in the Ordnance Research Institute, where a special gunpowder research institute was set up to study gunpowder and other explosives.

At the same time, Zhu Youjian also realized the necessity of developing chemistry and planned to have people organize the knowledge in this area and make chemistry an independent discipline. (End of this chapter)